Authors Notes

Disclaimer - We do not own X-Men

Prologue

The library was unusually quiet today, something Lily was thankful for. The only other people around were at the opposite end of the vast room; she could hear them talking amongst themselves if she listened hard enough. Yet the young girl still found herself squished into her usual, secluded corner. She gripped a large fantasy novel; one she had read too many times to count but still loved all the same. Fantasies were her favourite genre; they made her feel less weird.

Her heart shaped face and silvery eyes screamed innocence. The long blonde - almost white - hair didn't help either. But Lily was anything but innocent; childishly stubborn maybe, but not innocent. The things she could do - and had done - removed any trace of that.

Reaching the end of her page, she closed her eyes and focused solely on her surroundings. She found she could hear no one at all now. She smirked and with a gentle swish of her hand and the hushed whistle of a breeze, the page turned.

She sat up straight suddenly, a noise nearby startling her.

"Lily Hawthorn?" A man who looked to be in his late 20's said.

"How do you-"

"I'm Charles Xavier." He continued, cutting her off, "and this is my friend Erik Lehnsherr." He gestured to a taller man beside him, who stared blankly at her. "We were wondering if we could talk to you?"

Lily's mouth felt dry and the words died on her tongue when she tried to speak. Who are these people?

"We told you who we are." Lily's breath hitched. First they managed to get to me without me hearing anything and now they are hearing what I am thinking? She pushed back her chair with a sharp screech that made her wince; wanting to get away from them as quickly as she could.

"We're like you, Lily." The first man told her softly before she managed to get past them. "We're mutants - like you."

She froze, she had never heard of other people being like her. Charles smiled at her in reassurance seeing her cross her arms hesitantly. She remained silent. "That's how you didn't hear us coming over here and how I heard what you were thinking." She looked up as he said this, meeting his eyes before she shifted her gaze to the second man, silently asking what he could do. They both ignored this.

"Erik and I want you to come work for us; with others like yourself; for the Government."

"Others?- other people like me?" Lily stammered.

"Yes." Charles smiled, "so what do you say?"

Lara took a seat on the stool in the middle of the bar, leaning her arms against the table with a huff. She was becoming very impatient waiting for the bands to come on. Lara got moody when she had to wait, even if it was for just 5 minutes. She wiped the drops of sweat off her forehead with the back of her pale bare hand. It looked like a hundreds of people had turned up to the concert; the small club was full.

She glanced around the room checking if anyone's eyes were on her before she took hold of the warm glass of vodka; the warmth of the room had heated up her drink. She squeezed the glass gently and it crackled sounding like when you step on fresh snow. She brought the small glass, which was now covered in a light frost, to her cherry red lips and swallowed a mouthful. The alcohol burnt as it ran down her throat; she hated the taste of vodka. She placed the glass back down on the bar.

Lara brushed her fingers through her licorice black hair which was damp with sweat; the flashing lights dotted around the room every so often shined down on her, revealing the purple highlights in her dark wavy hair. Her head was oval shaped and her skin looked bloodless - Lara wasn't one who caught the sun easily. She had very faint dimples that only showed up when she smiled and her face was spotless. Her eyes were outlined in black make up. The irises of her eyes were beautiful; they contained every shade of blue. They looked icy, like the clearest sky and the deepest ocean - captivating and entrancing.

Lara took the last sip of vodka. She wanted to leave. She had done enough waiting.

"Hello." Lara jumped at the sound of a man taking the spare stool beside her. He had brown hair and was wearing a grey jacket, he looked in his late 20's. Lara froze. For once she didn't know what to say.

"I'm Charles Xavier and this is my friend Erik Lehnsherr." Charles pointed to a man that was sat the other side of Lara. Erik looked a little older than Charles. Both of them were leaning against the bar and smiling at her. Lara felt small with both of them staring at her - a feeling she rarely felt.

She wanted to get out of the awkward situation, "I have to go." Lara got to her feet, beginning to walk towards the exit, she looked back at the men with a frown and increased her speed to the main doors.

"We just want to talk, Miss DeWitt." Lara froze in the middle of the room, she spun around but the men were no where in sight. The voice was in her head.

"H-how did you-" She was interrupted by Charles, he was behind her with Erik.

"We're like you." Lara jumped again, spinning around to face the men. "We're mutants, just like you." Charles told her.

"You can get in people's heads?" Lara looked astonished, she had never met anyone like herself.

Charles nodded. "Something like that."

Lara's eye sight moved to Erik, "What about you?" She asked, eager to know.

"We're here to talk to you, not about us." Erik spat.

Lara raised her eyebrows at his response, wanting to hear what he had to say. "There's other people like us. Me and Erik want you to come work with us, for the government with people like you." Charles explained.

"Other people? Like me?" Lara looked bewildered. "You mean there's other people with powers? Not just us?"

Charles chuckled, "Yes. So what do you say?"